Science Olympiad 2007 Winners

by George Zamora

SOCORRO – Two teams from Albuquerque took home an abundance of Olympic-style medals and won top honors in the high school and middle school divisions at the 21st annual New Mexico Science Olympiad, which was held this past Saturday, February 24, on the New Mexico Tech campus.

The Albuquerque Academy, a perennial winner at the statewide academic competition, again took first place overall in the high school division, while Albuquerque Area Home School, a team comprised of area home-schooled students, finished first overall in the middle school division.

La Cueva High School garnered second in the high school division, while San Jon Middle School placed second in the middle school division of the state Science Olympiad.

In addition to the first-place trophies and numerous medals the science champions amassed, the two top-placing teams from Albuquerque also won rights to represent New Mexico later this year at the 2007 National Science Olympiad on May 18-19, at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.

(More detailed information on winners is available at the Science Olympiad website.

More than 800 student “intelletes” representing 25 middle schools and 25 high schools from throughout New Mexico gathered on the university campus in Socorro to compete in 45 spirited mental workouts—all of which required massive amounts of brain power, motor skills, teamwork, and imagination . . . not to mention months of planning, practice, and fine-tuning.

During the daylong event, teams of Science Olympians propelled mouse-trap-powered vehicles, built Rube Goldberg contraptions, and constructed efficient boomilevers, bridges, and robots in a quest for Olympic-style medals and the chance to represent New Mexico at the national competition.

Final placement of the top ten teams in both Division C (high school) and Division B (middle school).

Division C:

1) Albuquerque Academy (409 points)
2) La Cueva High School (383 points)
3) Socorro High School (345 points)
4) Cloudcroft High School (313 points)
5) New Mexico Military Institute (272 points)
6) Roswell High School (268 points)
7) Hobbs High School (265 points)
8) Farmington High School (248 points)
9) United World College USA (245 points)
10) Rio Rancho High School (231 points)

Division B:

1) Albuquerque Area Home School (418 points)
2) San Jon Middle School (324 points)
3) Albuquerque Academy (304 points)
4) Hoover Middle School (272 points)
5) Sidney Gutierrez Middle School-Roswell (269 points)
6) T or C Middle School (266 points)
7) Cottonwood Valley Charter School-Socorro (263 points)
8) Cloudcroft Middle School (248 points)
9) Annunciation Catholic School (236 points)
10) Lovington Junior High School (219 points)